Just like that
by Lajt Hane
Summary: It all started with not-so-simple ask for a phone number. Arakita x Onoda fanfick!


Series: Yowamushi Pedal

Pairing: ArakitaxOnoda

Genre: Romance, Humor

Rating: PG-13/T

All original characters belongs to Wataru Watanabe. May contain some OOCness.

* * *

If someone asked him why he did it, he would simply snarl that he was only interested in the winner of the third day of Inter-High. And well… it was probably true. At least back then he simply couldn't find any other reason why he did it.

He was a very straightforward person!

So somehow he found himself riding to the place where Souhoku was staying on the third day of Inter-High. Just like that.

"But why are you coming with me?!" he shouted, furrowing his eyebrows at his captain next to him.

"You said you wanted to congratulate Souhoku personally so I thought I'd tag along. They deserve proper congratulations," Fukutomi said.

Ah, yes, he said something like that. Because how can you describe it any other way?

"I understand you, Fuku-chan!" Arakita threw his hands in the sky, balancing on his bike just fine without holding it. "But why is the entire team coming too?!"

Arakita didn't really like the idea of the team staring at him when he did the thing he was about to do.

"Why are you so against it? We'll only congratulate them." Shinkai moved and rode next to him for few seconds.

"Yeah, I need to bash a little bit for taking the third place in front of Maki-chan!" And after that statement Toudou started laughing his weird sort of laugh that totally got on Arakita's nerves.

Arakita had enough of this, so he sped up a little.

"Why are you so mad about this?"

It was their captain again, who apparently decided to bug him as much as he could that day.

"I'm not!" Arakita yelled.

Fukutomi only glanced at him.

"If you say so…"

He was really not fucking mad!

* * *

Okay, maybe he was a little. They interrupted Souhoku in the middle of a small party they threw themselves for winning the Inter-High. Arakita couldn't blame them, and yet he was totally mad. Why were there so many people around!?

Ah yeah, winners and all that shit.

Kinjou asked them to celebrate with them, but there was something weird with celebrating with the team that beat them just earlier in the day, so they all declined (well Toudou insisted on staying, he was screaming something about parties but no one really paid attention to him).

So for a while Arakita stood in front of the building, not really doing anything. Especially not doing the thing he wanted to do.

"That's very considerate of you. Thank you very much," Kinjou said and bowed to all of them. (On the way there they bought some chocolates to give them.) "You can stay if you want to…"

They heard a loud laughing coming from a room not far away from the entrance and then the huge head of that sprinter emerged from it.

"You coming or not!? We're about to watch Onoda finish first for the tenth time this evening!" Tadokoro said, laughing halfway through his sentence.

Well no one from Hakone was up for that, that's for sure.

"T-tadokoro-san, please stop replaying it!"

Arakita flinched, hearing the voice. Why was this happening to him? Since that time when the damn four-eyes drafted for him he started feeling totally weird. But well, as the simple man he was Arakita just wanted this weird feeling to go away. And there was only one way that came to his mind.

But he couldn't do it with so many people around.

Maybe he should go back and forget about it.

"Onoda, you should come here too," said Kinjou, staring at the room that was bursting with energy.

"Ah… y-yes…"

Following the request, the boy walked out of the party room.

Arakita, from the outside, stared as boy wobbled from side to side, trying to get to his captain, but almost falling half the way. Well no one could blame him for that; he finished first today after all. He must be especially tired. It wouldn't be a surprise if he slept for few more hours than usual that night.

Then everyone started patting him on the shoulders, saying something encouraging and praising him like there was no tomorrow. When did Hakone become so familiar with that weird wonder boy?

Why was it pissing him off so much! Fuck all this!

He wanted to move forward, but found nothing that he wanted to say. He could only stare as boy blushed hard at every piece of praise he received and as he tried to push up his glasses with trembling hands.

Man, this boy was too nice and too shy for this road racing world! Arakita understood being afraid of himself (and maybe Toudou, never know what he will do… and maybe Izumida, that guy was talked to his chest! A hospital was definitely searching for him right now!), but he shouldn't be so frantic around the rest of the team.

But that was probably how that damn four-eyes was.

"So we'll be going then…"

And with that they all exited the building. And Arakita wasn't able to do that one single thing that he wanted to do.

They jumped on their bikes and slowly rode back to their own hotel. But this time Arakita was at the back of the pack.

He would've done it if his entire team didn't decide to tag along! They were so irritating sometimes. How he lived through three entire years with them was still a total mystery.

Fuck them for today. They didn't mean to do it, but fuck them!

"You should go before we reach the hotel."

Arakita glared at the captain, who rode next to him. What was this guy, a mind reader or something like that! Don't act like you know everything you freaking… freaking…

"Ah damn you, Fuku-chan!" And he found himself braking and turning his bike. For awhile he heard some shouts behind him, something that sounded like Izumida and Toudou but he didn't care for them.

Why was his captain always acting like that! Argh it was pissing him off. Everything was pissing him off. He just wanted to take it off his mind!

And in a few minutes he was back in front of the building that he left not so long ago. Well it didn't change in that space of time, nor did Onoda suddenly disappear, which was fine.

So he yelled at top of his lungs.

"Onoda-chan! Come out right now!"

Because this was what he wanted to do.

Maybe it was his imagination, but he almost heard a terrified shriek coming from the window next to him (something like 'Y-yes!'), then a rumbling, another shriek (followed with shouts of 'Watch out, Sakamichi!'), and finally the front door flung open and small boy almost jumped from it.

Man, his eyes are so big now- he was panting heavily and staring at him with this scared look. And Arakita just… stared.

So they stood outside together and just stare at each other.

And not soon after he saw a few heads peek out from the half opened front door and gaze at him intensively. Arakita recognized them, especially that damn green haired mama of the team. Arakita feel his fiery look, a look that could kill. Calm down Makishima, he isn't here to hurt anyone! Damn him.

"S-so what is it that you w-wanted, Arakita-san!?"

Arakira returned his look from the eyes gaping at him to the boy in front of him.

"Onoda-chan!" he yelled one more time, gathering his courage.

"Y-yes?!"

"Give me your phone number!"

The boy looked at him with a slightly surprised look, clearly painted in the light coming from a street lamp. He opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened and closed, just like a fish on the shore.

And the looks the rest of the Souhoku team was giving him were incredibly tense. Arakita wasn't sure if they heard him, but well… fuck that. It was better than his entire team hearing that!

But he still had no answer to his plead slash order.

Onoda finally said to him:

"E-eh? Why?"

Why? He wasn't sure of it himself. He just felt a sudden urge to have it, that's all. There was no bad reason behind it, so that freaking Souhoku team could stop glaring at him so much!

"Just because…" he said in a quieter voice, but it was still loud. He wasn't good at speaking quietly!

And it was true. He just needed it right now, just like that!

And for a brief moment he felt that the Souhoku climber would stutter his apologies and turn him down on that simple request, but it was only a moment.

But nothing like that happened. He only nodded frantically.

"O-okay, sure…"

Arakita fished out his phone and flipped it open. He put inside the few numbers the boy stuttered to him and then he had to reread them aloud to check if everything was alright. He saved it with 'Onoda-chan' and closed his phone.

Totally satisfied with himself, he turned around and jumped on his bike.

"Congrats on your win!" he shouted and started pedaling away from the building.

He glanced back one more time at the red face of the climber staring at him. And before he made a turn he heard his stuttering voice one more time.

"T-thank you, Arakita-san!"

* * *

No matter how weird it was he messaged him the next day. And from that point it happened pretty often. Like almost every day.

He didn't know why he asked for phone number or why he messaged him so quickly. He felt an urge and flowed with it. Just like that.

When he was returning from the hotel to his house with all his teammates some of them were staring at him. It wasn't a surprising sight, him talking with someone, but there must be something more to it since everyone was staring at him. Yet no one asked anything about it.

Their first talk was simple and predictable.

 _Hey!_

 _Y-yes!_

 _I just wanted to say hey._

 _O-okay…_

 _What's up?_

 _Actually we're packing and coming back to school. What about you Arakita-san?_

 _The same._

Arakita wasn't sure why he started writing or why he wanted to keep up the talk.

From this point on he often found himself messaging Onoda. With no high purpose. He enjoyed the small talk they were having through their phones.

Most of the time he answered with one sentence or asked short questions. But surprisingly, when they talked about topics the Souhoku climber liked he wrote pretty long messages. Arakita found himself liking them.

And like that he often checked his phone before and after practices. He felt the glances of his teammates on his back but he didn't care about them. There was nothing bad in talking with someone from the opposing team.

It took around two weeks for Shinkai to finally approach him and simply ask:

"Who are you messaging?"

Arakita didn't see any reason why he should hide it. It was normal to talk with people, right?

"Onoda-chan from Souhoku," he murmured and glanced at his phone. No new messages. Shame.

He didn't really pay attention to the silence that surrounded him. Only when he lifted his face did he see that everyone was staring at him with bewildered looks.

"What!? Something wrong with that?!"

Shinkai was the first to find his voice. He looked sadly downwards at his energy bar that lay half-eaten near his leg.

"Nothing it's just… surprising…"

"Why are you talking with him?" asked Izumida, lifting his dumbbells again.

"Just felt like it."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that."

Izumida looked at Toudou, who was a professional at talking with people from Souhoku (although he only talked with Makishima). He shrugged and put his own phone away.

No one pushed the topic any more. But he still felt them gazing at him whenever he took out his cell phone and stared at the lit up screen.

* * *

One day when he was walking around the city, he saw the movie poster for that weird anime Onoda was talking about. He sent him a message immediately.

 _Have you seen it yet?_

 _No, not yet. I was thinking about…_

 _Then come with me._

Just like that.

He wasn't interested in it. He just thought that he wanted to watch it with Onoda. The answer he got was half stutter-written, with a lot of emoticons at the end signifying that he was probably the happiest person in the whole of Japan.

And Arakita wasn't totally sure why but he smiled, staring at his phone. Back home he checked the times for showings. And wrote a few propositions. They agreed to go on Sunday, after morning practice, to Akihabara (Arakita preferred the cinema near his house, but Akiba was good choice for both of them). They were supposed to meet in front of it.

Arakita wasn't sure why he had trouble sleeping that night.

* * *

He was five minutes late for the meeting, but he got lost in Akihabara. This freaking place was too fucking damn big.

"A-arakita-san!"

Onoda was standing in front of the building, waving at him with those tiny little hands of his and smiling like Christmas was just around the corner.

"Sorry I'm late. This place is too big," he stated when he was close enough for the boy to hear him.

"No problem. I bought tickets on the internet so we can go inside!"

Arakita nodded and followed him inside.

There weren't too many people with them there, but what scared him the most was the fact that most of them were teenagers. What was wrong with them?

About the movie, he didn't really care. He read about it on the internet and wasn't totally interested in it. He just wanted to go somewhere with Onoda.

Without anything better to do, he stared at the boy next to him for almost half the movie.

The small Souhoku climber was staring with small sparkles in his eyes at the screen, jumping when something surprising happened (and he spilled the cola they bought), screaming and sobbing when something bad happened to the protagonist, and laughing at all the lame jokes.

Arakita found himself liking his view.

"That was amazing! What do you think, Arakita-san?"

He shrugged.

"It wasn't that bad…"

Onoda took that as an invitation to talk about the whole movie again, but his version had the small details that almost no one else noticed.

And Arakita thought that Onoda looked incredibly cute when he talked about the things he liked.

Huh, maybe it really was weird after all…

He looked at the sky.

"Arakita-san, are you listening?"

"Yes, yes, Onoda-chan, I'm listening…"

* * *

After that day he found himself lying on his bed and staring at the ceiling. Onoda was already asleep so he had no one to talk to. But wasn't what bugged him.

Did he really consider Onoda cute? Of course, there was no denying it, but still...

Coming to think of it, he hasn't been thinking about any cute girls lately. He wasn't really paying any attention to girls (it looked like he had his own fangirl club here in Hakone). It's not like he was doing it much in the first place, but lately he wasn't looking at girls at all.

He had no problem with thinking that boys were cute. It was just an adjective. Just like any other word. But the sound of it, and pinning it on the Souhoku climber… Arakita started to feel that thinking like that about Onoda was totally different that thinking like that about any other person.

He didn't know why. He just thought like that.

So Onoda was cute. And there was nothing wrong with that. Or at least he thought it wasn't. But he just need to be sure…

* * *

Maybe asking about it wasn't the brightest thing Arakita could've done, but he did it nevertheless.

And maybe asking Toudou about it wasn't the best thing he could've done, but he did it. Only after he asked did he regret it.

"What! You think that Four-eyes is cute and now you are asking me if this is wrong?!"

That was exactly what he asked, but the entire team didn't need to know that.

"A little bit quieter, will you!"

He looked around but found that no one paying too much attention to them. They were outside and practicing so maybe that was the case. Not to mention they were riding on bikes.

"Sorry. It took me by surprise…"

They rode in silence for awhile and a few people passed them. He wasn't as mad about it as he thought he would be.

"So four-eyes, right? I'm not sure about it but he had nice eyes…"

He sure did. Sparkling and all that shit.

"Why are you asking?" his Ace Climber turned to him and braked a little when they were turning.

Arakita shrugged at that.

"Just because…"

They were slowly moving to the mountain part. And suddenly Toudou stood up and started to climb pretty fast. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad and suspicious if not for the evil laughter that followed him. He was pretty far away from Arakita when he turned and yelled to him.

"Wait 'til I tell Maki-chan!"

No! Fucking! Way!

"You fucking idiot! Don't tell Mama Spider!"

And that's how he found himself receiving threats on his phone.

* * *

 _Tell Mama Spider to stop that!_

 _W-what? Mama who? Stop what?_

So he had no idea what was happening around him in the Souhoku team. Until now Arakita wasn't sure if they knew with whom Onoda was talking, but after Toudou's feat it became plain and obvious.

He had nothing against Team Souhoku knowing that he had been talking with their small climber. The problem was the entire Souhoku team. A bunch of over-protective mother hens, the lot of them. But Hakone wasn't any better. If someone ever thought they were a calm and serious team, they were wrong. So wrong!

Anyway, talking with Toudou didn't help him and only made everything worse. Well it helped a little. So someone else also thought that Onoda had nice eyes. It was a start.

But not only those sparkling eyes. He had also a nice smile.

Arakita looked at his ceiling.

Maybe there was something wrong with him after all.

* * *

He was staring at his phone for awhile now. He just didn't know he was humming to himself, quite menacingly. It's not like he had any murderous thoughts in his head, it was just part of his personality.

"What are you doing, Arakita-senpai?"

He lifted his head to see Izumida, who was currently changing into his training clothes. Ah yes, he should do that too. But first he needed to answer.

"Is that the small climber from Souhoku?"

At this point Arakita didn't really care who knew it.

"Yeah…" Then he lifted his head, as a sudden idea struck him. "What do you think of him?"

He wasn't sure why he asked it, especially to Izumida. Asking Toudou about Onoda being cute was a really bad idea and the climber took all opportunities to point that out to him.

Izumida stared at him and zipped up his jersey.

"I don't know him pretty well… I guess he's a good man… and strong…" Then he put his palm near his mouth. "And it looks like Souhoku trust him…"

Arakita nodded.

Yeah, Onoda was definitely strong. How there could be so much power inside his small body was still a mystery.

"What do you think about his smile?"

"H-huh, smile?"

Arakita could drill his body with his fierce look if he wanted to, but that what he planned on then. He just really needed answers, that's all.

Izumida looked up.

"It's nice, I guess?"

Arakita, content with that answer, nodded and turned to his phone.

 _Want to visit this café?_

* * *

Arakita picked him up from the station and this time he wasn't late. Okay maybe two minutes late but that was all.

Onoda was just trying to emerge from the crowd when Arakita stopped in front of the station. When their eyes met, he smiled that giant grin of his and waved at him.

"Arakita-san!"

He didn't understand why his stomach suddenly did a back-flip like it decided that it wanted to be a pro-skater.

"Hey…"

Onoda caught up to him and panted:

"Thank you for this invitation!"

Arakita nodded and they both turned to walk in the direction of the café.

Onoda babbled all the way there and Arakita didn't mind. He was usually the one to speak, but whenever he was with the small climber he liked to shut up and listen to his voice. This didn't mean he wasn't speaking or making snarl comments at all. Of course he did. It was part of his personality, but somehow… it happened less in Onoda's company than others'.

Of course it was well known that he swore a lot around the Hakone members.

They sat in a corner of the café, near the window to have clear view of the streets. Arakita ordered a simple black coffee and Onoda took a black mocha.

They talked about cycling and a lot about their teams. Arakita took quite some time talking about all of the weird things his teammates did and let's say… the list was very long. But he didn't do that just to complain.

He did it to see and hear that laughter coming from small boy's lips, the way his eyes shone with amusement and those soft giggles and chuckles that occasionally shook his body.

But Arakita did need to admit that the Souhoku team wasn't any better sometimes. He heard about Makishima's weird behaviour, but the other people were still a surprise for him.

They sat there until the evening came.

"O-o-ohmygosh… it's so late! I need to get going, or I'll miss the last train!"

Arakita welcomed that idea with a pinch of sadness, anger, guilt and hope? What the heck was hope doing around those feelings? Arakita didn't understand it.

They quickly gathered their things and almost ran to the station to get there five minutes before the train.

They waited on the platform, panting heavily after the run. The café wasn't so far, but it wasn't close either.

Only when the lights of train were visible did Onoda turn to him with slightly pinked cheeks.

"Thank you for today. It was pretty enjoyable!"

Arakita nodded.

"You know… if you missed the train you could always sleep at my house…"

He wasn't sure why he said that. It just felt like an appropriate thing to say. Like it was normal, right? Right?

The train was only few meters away when Onoda graced him with another smile and beamed:

"Thank you for your offer then!"

And just like that something clicked inside Arakita head and he knew from where this hope came from. Oh… oh!

Onoda jumped inside the train and turned around to wave at him.

* * *

Arakita lay in his silent room for a pretty long time that night. He wasn't doing much, only remembering all that happened that day. It was a nice feeling. Totally different from the one he got after meeting with his teammates.

Now he was content…

He exhaled the air he didn't know he was holding and turned on his bed to face the wall. If they moved a little bit slower then maybe…

There wasn't really anything inappropriate in the way he thought it… it's just… it would be nice to have someone for the night over to… he didn't know, watch movies, or even anime? Eat popcorn and talk about shit. You know, just enjoyed themselves and stuff like that?

It wouldn't be too weird, right? Guys still do that, right?

Riiight… Maybe it was too soon for that… Were they friends? Or buddies? Mates? Bros?

Or maybe…

Arakita shook his head so hard that even his body shook beneath him and made him a little dizzy. What was his mind doing, thinking like that?

Okay, he had a nice smile and was cute and Arakita wasn't such bad person when he was near him, and he liked to talk with him and spend time with him… But did it really mean anything?

Probably not.

* * *

"You look troubled, did something happen?"

Arakita lifted his face that he didn't realize was hanging down. So he was staring down for his entire ride up the hill. Great. Fukutomi wouldn't be pleased with that.

But back to sudden question. Was something troubling him? He wasn't sure.

Maybe there was something slowly bulging inside his stomach, or chest.. or the whole area of his body.

"Maybe…" he finally said. "Yes…" Then shook his head. After a moment, "No, there isn't…" That wasn't right. "I'm not sure…"

Shinkai only laughed that weird deep laugh of his, and his energy bar almost fell from his mouth.

"Wow, the mighty Yasutomo has problems~!"

If it was any other person than Shinkai (or Fukutomi in that matter) then Arakita would grace him with a punch to the face. Or two for the price of one. So he only scowled in return.

"Oh, don't be mad. I'm just joking…"

Arakita wasn't in mood for jokes. He never was and he never would be.

"So what's the problem?"

Arakita sighed and tightened his grip on his handlebars. If he was going to ride slow, then he might actually talk. But was there anything to talk about?

"I just… don't understand myself…"

Talking with Toudou was bad, but now he's doing it with Shinkai? His brain better not betray him with trusting people.

Shinkai hummed and took out another bar. Just how many did he have?

"That's weird… You're always so straightforward…"

"Hey!"

"I don't mean it in bad way. It's just… you're not always over thinking matters, you know?"

Arakita didn't answer that.

Well maybe Shinkai was telling the truth. He was simple man; if he wanted to do something, he did it. No deep reasons, no second thoughts (it sometimes brought him problems, but nothing that he couldn't deal with). So why he was thinking so much now?

The answer was simple. This was the first time in entire life that he had a problem like that.

"Sooo what is it?"

Arakita would be totally content with dropping that topic and start talking about anything else, even freaking turtles.

But Arakita opened his mouth and, at the speed of light, mumbled everything under his breath:

"Okay, so maybe I hoped that we would be late for the last train so that one particular person could spend the night at my house, what do you think about that?"

For few seconds there was silence between them and he heard the soft buzzing of moving tires under them.

He lifted his head and was met face to face with a face full of astonishment, happiness, confusion and… disgust.

"For fuck's sake, not for sex!"

Shinkai blinked and then sighed, relaxing the muscles on his arms.

Seriously, what they were thinking about him? He wasn't some kind of sexually frustrated wild animal. To tell the truth he was still a virgin! But well… let them think differently about that, at least.

"You know… just to spend more time with each other and all that shit…"

Shinkai reached for the pocket on his back and took out another bar. It looked like he dropped the previous one, when he was struck speechless.

"I don't know, maybe it means you like this person…"

But he liked him just fine. There wasn't anything new or revealing in that statement.

"But I do like him."

Shinkai rolled his eyes in that playful manner that Arakita totally hated.

"But you like-like him!"

Arakita stared at him like Shinkai was alien from another planet that just descended on to Earth. And maybe it was the truth. What the heck he was babbling about?

* * *

 _D-does Arakita-san want to go shopping with me?_

 _Sure._

This was the first time Onoda initiated a meeting and the weird feeling inside his stomach and chest was back.

"Oh my God, he is smiling so ominously at his phone…"

"No I don't think it's supposed to be evil. He's happy… probably…"

"Probably?!"

Arakita glared at his teammates and they immediately hushed up, although a few still stole quick surprised glances in his direction.

* * *

This time Arakita rode on the train. The ride went surprisingly fast and quickly he found himself pacing in front of the door, waiting it to be opened. He was also the first person to jump out of it when it actually did.

Not familiar with the station, he looked around, searching for some kind of gate or stairs allowing him to make progress, but the only thing he found was Onoda waving at him and smiling. For a brief moment Arakita fell like he was staring at the brightest star in the sky, but then thought that that was pretty impossible to do, so he shook his head.

"D-did you any problems with the trip here?" asked the boy when Arakita jogged towards him.

"No."

Onoda clasped his hands together.

"Great!"

They turned and slowly, arm to arm, walked out of the station.

"So where we going? Akiba?"

Onoda quickly shook his head.

"N-no, not today. I need to buy some things for cycling and I hoped you would help me…"

Something inside him just twisted hearing it. He just… picked him to help him. He could've asked anyone else! Kinjou, Makishima, that weird Imaizumi. Anyone! But he picked him…

He felt like someone suddenly turned the heating on inside his body.

"Arakita-san, are you ill? Your face is r-red…"

Arakita splurted and coughed on his saliva. He started to pat his face, hoping that maybe the annoying blush would go away. But it didn't help… it only made his face hurt more.

"No, I'm not!"

"Ah o-okay!"

They moved to some shopping mall that Arakita didn't know existed in that city. Onoda started to run through many sports shops, searching for clothes and equipment. He asked him many question and Arakita tried to answer them as honestly as he could.

His gaze stopped.

"Arakita-san?"

Man, he really wanted it. But he was actually broke, so he would have to wait.

They walked few more meters, before Onoda suddenly jumped and put his hand in his bag and rummaged through it.

"O-oh I forgot something from that shop… Can you wait here for awhile?"

Arakita only nodded.

It actually took quite few minutes before Onoda returned. He was unusually happy, and his cheeks were tinged slightly pink.

"Did you get it?"

He jumped, somehow startled by that obvious question and looked at him. A few seconds passed before recognition hit him and he nodded.

"Y-yeah, sorry for the wait!"

They walked around for another hour or so before Onoda gathered everything that was on his list.

It was already dark outside and very chilly. The winter was just around the corner.

They walked slowly to the station, not really talking much, but that wasn't the problem. The building appeared in his line of vision faster than he expected and he welcomed it with a grimace. He enjoyed the leisurely day.

His train was coming in five minutes so they waited on the platform. There weren't too many people around, but they were standing quite close to each other. Arakita didn't mind.

"U-um, Arakita-san?"

He hummed, showing that he was listening.

"I w-wanted to give it to you… as you know, thanking you for the movie a-and coffee the other day… And all your helpful advice."

Arakita looked down at the small package in Onoda's hands that was directed at him and he felt his face burning up again.

"T-thanks…" Oh my gosh, did he actually stutter?

He reached for the package and took it, accidentally brushing his palm on boy's smaller one. It was a nice touch, even if it lasted less than a second.

The train arrived shortly after and Arakita walked on it before turning around. Onoda graced him with that heart-warming smile before he disappeared in throng of unknown people on the station.

Arakita sat down and took out the package and unwrapped it. It was the gloves he was looking at that one shop. That sneaky bastard returned there to buy them. For him.

And his brain short-circuited.

Onoda bought him something. Like, for him, especially for him. He knew it was an act of gratitude for all their previous meetings, but still… it felt special somehow. Of course Arakita received many presents for his birthdays and whatever… but… never something like that.

He smiled, staring at the gloves. They were really nice.

* * *

He put on the gloves the next day.

To tell the truth he thought about hiding them and appreciating in silence for the rest of his life, but it felt a little bit liked a wasted opportunity. And Arakita thought that Onoda would be happier if he actually used them, so he did.

He didn't know why he wanted Onoda to be happy, but well… if this was what his mind was telling him to do then he did it. Just like that.

"Uh, do you have new gloves?"

Arakita glanced at Toudou. It was unusual for him to match his pace on the mountain, but well, it was a free country. If Toudou wanted to ride next to him, then why not?

"Oh it's true. They're nice!" And Shinkai tagged along on his left side.

"Right?! The old ones were so dirty, it was actually time to buy new ones!"

Arakita sighed heavily. Can't they drop this topic? Why were his new gloves such an important matter to them?

"But I thought you were broke…" Shinkai stared at his hands.

"Yeah, you spend all your money on Bepsi…" Toudou also drilled his gaze into his palms.

Arakita scowled.

"I got them as a present, okay!?" he snapped, because that was simply how he was.

Toudou and Shinkai were unfazed by his sudden outburst (probably used to it by now). Only their looks sharpened a little and a small glint sparkled in them. They both smirked in that way that Arakita didn't like.

"A present huh~"

"It must be nice, right?"

Arakita nodded, not liking the way the conversation was going. He tightened his grip on the handlebars and sped up a little. But of course his teammates were douches and kept up with him.

Surprisingly, they rode for few meters in silence, until Toudou finally moved closer and asked:

"Sooo from whom?"

His eyebrow twitched, hearing that oh so sweet voice of their climber. Toudou was literally the biggest gossipmonger in the entirety of Hakone. He needed to know everything, and Arakita could guess that he wouldn't be satisfied with any halfassed answer he got. If Toudou wanted to know something, then he would get it. Simple as that.

Arakita sped up one more time, feeling his knees and limbs slowly start to hurt. He totally forgot that they were on the mountain. Toudou's perfect place.

But no matter how hard he tried to get away from the climber, he always caught up in an instant. Not to mention Shinkai, who was also persistent in that matter and guarded his other side.

After few minutes Arakita had enough of it and he braked hard, almost falling down.

"I got them from Onoda-chan, okay!?"

Toudou only laughed at that before smirking.

"I knew it, I just wanted to confirm it!" And he rode away, still laughing.

Arakita gritted his teeth, feeling mad at himself for falling for it. Well there wasn't anything bad in telling, nor was it a secret. He just… wanted to keep that info to himself.

"Good for you!" Shinkai patted him on the back and passed him.

Arakita waited until a few more people passed him before he put his foot on the pedal and started riding again.

* * *

Arakita had never felt that way. This urge was overwhelming, to the point where he didn't know what to do with it.

He wasn't quite popular type, or the type to like people. He tolerated or even liked his teammates just fine and he respected Fukutomi and the other teams. So he had never felt that way.

The urge to see someone.

It was too much. He didn't even know you could want something so bad.

They talked a lot through messages via phones and even called once but that was all. Arakita wanted something different. He wanted to meet face to face and just… spend time together and talk.

The problem was that he couldn't find a proper excuse for a meeting. It would be totally awkward to just walk around right? Even though that idea didn't sound too bad in Arakita's head, still…

He groaned and stirred in his bed, facing the wall now. He was doing it a lot lately. Thinking in bed. Thinking about someone especially.

Lately Onoda was on his mind a lot. Like, very often.

Arakita looked at the phone in his hand.

Wouldn't it be too awkward if he just called him and said he wanted to meet? No, that would totally be uncomfortable. And what would Onoda think of him then?

Man, this was too complicated. He just wanted to move forward and ride bicycles. Was that too much to ask?

* * *

How the fuck did he end on a fucking slope with wonder boy was still a mystery.

One second he was alone, riding uphill, enjoying the breeze of the morning and the next second someone was next to him, with that freaky smile and a too-happy voice.

"Hello, Arakita-san!"

Arakita didn't answer, only sighed, showing that he acknowledged Manami's presence if only a little bit.

The boy didn't look like he was fazed by Arakita's behavior, as he started to speak again:

"It's unusual for you to climb this slope, Arakita-san. And so early in the morning!"

Arakita clicked his tongue. Being near Manami was the last thing he wanted that morning. He just wanted to ride around and think a little bit in different surroundings. Was that too much to ask?

"Hmm… you look troubled, Arakita-san…"

No shit Sherlock…

"Did something happen?"

Arakita glanced to the side to spot the really concerned face of Manami and then it hit him. He probably didn't know what was happening around him. He rarely spent time in the locker room. He probably didn't know that he was talking with Onoda.

Arakita made too many mistakes to count with telling his team. He didn't want to reveal himself in front of Manami. But knowing him, he would only shrug at it and ride this freaking hill.

"You know…"

But Manami wasn't near him. Arakita started to frantically look around and he spotted him, in front, climbing that slope… again.

"Nothing better than a little climb to clear our minds!"

Little climb? Nothing better!? This little wonder boy was really pissing Arakita off. So naturally, he sped up. Which ended in a race, with Manami laughing and him cursing all the way up.

When they finished, he was out of breath and his whole body was covered in sweat. Just great… Not to mention Manami won, of course.

But before Arakita was able to say few 'nice words' to the boy, he jumped off the bike and sat on the grass. He turned to him and gestured for him to do the same. Arakita shrugged and put his bike away.

"You wanted to talk about something, but I just saw the slope so naturally I sped up. Sorry! So what was the matter?"

Man, Manami was perceptive. It was a little bit creepy, but heck… Arakita had a problem and he would take any advice.

"I just want to meet with someone and don't know how to do it…" Better leave 'wanting to spend time' to himself. Manami wasn't the one to judge other people, but he might accidentally say what Arakita said to Toudou and then all hell would break loose.

"Why don't you just ask him to cycle together?"

Well that was… a pretty solid piece of advice. Especially since it came out of Manami's mouth.

But hey, he was a climber, Onoda was a climber, so they understood each other. In a way.

Arakita put his hand near his chin and nodded.

"Yeah, that could work." Maybe he should show his gratitude. Yeah.

Arakita lifted his hand and patted Manami hard on back, making him lean forward and almost hitting ground with his face.

"Thanks…"

"No problem…" Wonder boy lifted his face and brushed away the grass from his cheek. Then he blinked few times, like he recognized something and then his mouth stretched into one of his weird smiles. "Oh, those are the gloves!"

"What gloves?"

Manami pointed at his hands.

"The ones Sakamichi-kun got you…"

Manami returned to the locker room with giant bruise on his forehead.

* * *

 _Wanna go for a ride?_

 _Y-yeah, with pleasure \\(^o^)/_

And another emoticon. It was quite cute.

Something throbbed a bit painfully in his chest, thinking about the answer. He was happy of course, but the beating inside his chest was a little bit too much for him.

He stared at his phone for few more minutes, before he finally shut it and put near his bed.

Well, for Onoda it was probably only friendly ride.

But for him… he felt like it was totally something different. Like it was something… something more than a ride. And Arakita was happy about it.

He got another message asking for the time and place and he wrote a quick answer before closing his phone once again.

He didn't understand it at all, he stopped trying to understand his simple mind long time ago, now he just flowed with the stream. And he… didn't mind.

Well Arakita loved to be in control of himself. The only exception was Fukutomi, but he respected him. Not to mention that Fukutomi helped him a lot (but better not tell him that). And now something was pushing him in the direction of thesmall Souhoku climber and Arakita… was a-okay with it.

If it meant being near to Onoda then it was fine.

And Arakita growled and hid his face in the pillow, screaming to it.

That was such an embarrassing thought. Why did his mind act like that?

* * *

Arakita rode to Onoda's place. He woke up especially early, probably for the first time in forever, gathered his things, and jumped on his bike. The rode was unnaturally long and no matter how hard he pedalled it still felt like only a few minutes passed.

After few hours or so he stopped in front of Onoda's house and wrote him that he was already there.

He heard footsteps near the doorway and soon the door swung open and Onoda emerged from it, holding his bag near his chest.

"Hello Arakita-san!"

Arakita nodded. His stomach started twirling and swirling inside his body, seeing that happy face. He wasn't even sure that was possible.

They jumped on bikes and slowly rode away from the house.

He didn't know the surroundings, so he left the trip planning to Onoda, who was way too joyful with that idea. But knowing him it would end in a lot of hills.

The day wasn't very hot; it could be even called a little bit chilly due to the freezing wind coming from up the hills. Arakita didn't put many clothes on, but knowing himself he wouldn't be cold anyway. Not to mention they would be riding.

For a long time they didn't talk, only rode in peaceful silence, surrounded by sound of the wind brushing along them and occasionally cars and people. But most of the time, they were alone, in a calm city.

And Arakita really enjoyed it, riding in silence, just being near Onoda.

"It's really nice today, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is…"

And another silence, but the nice kind.

Arakita glanced to the side at the still grinning boy. He looked like just riding was giving him more enjoyment than anything else. And Arakita hoped that his presence was part of that happiness bulging inside of him.

Onoda started to hum that anime song again and Arakita found himself liking the sound of it. Not to mention after a while he started tapping his finger to the rhythm of the song.

And slowly they started to talk about small topics, surprisingly many of them were about Arakita. And he talked a lot about himself that day. The bands he liked, the food that he disliked, about his life and team…

He never talked so much about himself in the entire life before, but he was okay with it.

During their ride they only climbed one mountain while they rode on the flats the rest of the time. Well Arakita didn't mind, as flats were his favourites, but it still was a little bit off.

So he decided to ask about it.

And Onoda stuttered and turned his head away after his question.

Arakita smirked as he saw that his cheeks turned into a beautiful red. He liked doing it and he felt a little proud of it. Like it was an achievement of some sort.

"Y-you know Arakita-san I just thought that you… like flats more so we should ride them…"

And something literally cracked inside his chest and he almost fell down. Well he rode into some bushes, but that wasn't so bad.

"Arakita-san!"

Arakita blinked rapidly a few times and put his hand on his chest and tried to calm his breath. But that weird feeling was still inside his chest, between his ribs. Maybe he just gulped down some bug? No, that would be inside his stomach then.

"Arakita-san?!"

"I'm okay, don't worry. I just spaced out."

Onoda stared at him with a concerned look, but after awhile nodded – or more like hung his head down.

"Oh, okay."

They jumped back on the bikes and started to ride again.

* * *

It was a really nice day. Arakita didn't know you could enjoy riding as much as he did in that moment. So when the sun set and they both returned to Onoda's house, he almost wanted to scream and punch something.

"T-thank you Arakita-san, I had a lot of fun!" Onoda clasped his hands together and stared at him with so many stars in the eyes, Arakita felt like he was staring at the night sky.

"Yeah, me too…" And he scratched the back of his head.

They stared at each other, but Onoda didn't look like he was fazed by that.

Arakita didn't want to return, but he also didn't want to push himself inside someone else's house.

"W-we can do it again! Of course, only if you want to!" Onoda said.

His heart started to beat a little bit faster. Why? Why Onoda was so cute, so adorable right now! What was happening with him? Why was his brain not working correctly when he was near the Souhoku climber?

Arakita waved his hand in front of himself.

"I want to, of course I want to, so don't worry!"

Onoda literally beamed with happiness. Arakita felt like he could get blinded any second.

His brain suddenly stopped working correctly, seeing that smile. Not like it was doing any better earlier, but it was ridiculous.

And then the entire world suddenly stopped. Time started to move in slow motion as he leaned over and planted his lips on boy's smaller ones in one quick, chaste movement.

He wasn't sure why he did it. He just did. It looked like his brain decided to do it and as the simple man he was he just moved with it. Just like that.

He quickly moved away and before Onoda was able to say something to him, he jumped on his bike and rode away.

* * *

He didn't get a lot of sleep that night. All night he turned around in his bed, so much that even his parents asked him to calm down.

He was touching his lips every three seconds.

The soft feeling was still there, or more like still there in his memory. It was a very quick movement, only a second or two, but in his mind it felt like an eternity.

Why he did do that?! He never thought about it near Onoda and in that moment everything changed. It wasn't like he didn't like it or anything like that. He did. He really enjoyed it.

To the point where he wanted to do it again.

And that was what scared him the most.

Why he did do that!? This would definitely change things between them, and he really enjoyed spending time and talking with Onoda. He couldn't imagine his world without him now. How did he even manage to do it before he met him?

It was terrifying. Arakita was rarely scared- he could call himself brave. But now it was a totally different matter.

His phone blinked, showing that he got new message, but it was lying face down next to his head. He really wanted to check it, but at the same he didn't.

So he laid there for half of the night, staring at it.

In the end he checked it in the morning.

Thank you one more time for today.

Finito! Nothing more, nothing less. Arakita felt a little bit disappointed.

He replied with whatever that first came to his head and with a growl, stood up from the bed.

* * *

For the next few days they talked, in Arakita's opinion, normally, but of course… he felt that something was missing. Something very important.

And of course when he was missing something he felt a little bit mad and angry. Okay, maybe he was very angry and mad. But he tried really hard not to show it. He had enough of his teammates asking him stupid questions, smirking at him (especially Toudou), patting him on the back and glancing at him whenever they got the chance.

It was pissing him off. Additionally.

When they were riding he was either at the front or at the back. Far away from all those eyes following him.

What was pissing him off so much when they talked normally? He didn't want things to change between them, so why? Things were okay now, so what?

Maybe he didn't want it to be normal? Maybe there was something more to it.

Arakita groaned and sped up, leaving his entire team behind.

* * *

It was one of those days when he was especially far behind the team.

Well, he wasn't in a mood to catch up to anyone nor he was in mood to do anything else. There was probably a message waiting to be read by him, so maybe that was the only one thing he wanted to do.

He sighed and closed his eyes. He knew the road too well, so that wasn't the problem. Well it wouldn't be a problem, if someone didn't decide to start a conversation.

"Arakita."

And of course Arakita jumped and his foot slipped off the pedal, making him swing to the side and crash into a tree. He cursed aloud as he returned to the road. He massaged his aching arm and glared at Fukutomi, who still stared at him with a stone face.

"What?!" he murmured when he was close enough for them to speak.

"Are you okay?"

Arakita glanced at his red arm. It wasn't bad- he had been in worse accidents.

"I'm okay, but you could not sneak up on people when they're thinking…"

Fukutomi stared at him.

"I wasn't asking about your injury, although I'm sorry for what I did."

"So what the fuck did you mean?"

His captain, totally unfazed by his outburst, returned his gaze to the road as they turned to the right.

"You look sad lately. Other people have noticed it too and we're worried about you…"

Arakita clicked his tongue and looked to the road.

Even as annoying as his teammates were, they weren't bad. Just… Arakita wasn't sure what he was feeling and wanting himself. And he knew Toudou wouldn't help with his dumb advice.

But his captain was a totally different matter.

Arakita glanced at Fukutomi, who was staring back at him.

Well Fukutomi could always read him and knew what was bothering him, or knew when to push it. And he was definitely doing it now.

And maybe if Arakita was in a better mood he would fight against that mysterious power of Fukutomi's that so easily made him obey a little bit longer. But he was tired and just wanted to get it out of his mind. And who better to talk to than the always quiet captain.

But he didn't know how to start, so he opened his mouth and closed it, opened and closed, opened and closed, like a fish on the shore.

"Is it about the Souhoku climber?"

Arakita sighed and changed gears to not really put his mind into pedaling or more into this conversation. He only hoped that no one will tag along. And by no one he meant the entire Hakone regular team.

"Yes, it is…"

"Did you get into an argument?"

"What? No!" Come to think of it, Onoda rarely argued or was ever really, really mad. "It's not that…"

"So?"

Even almighty Fukutomi probably couldn't guess what was inside his mind.

"It's that lately… I have these weird thoughts… about him… like he's cute and has a nice smile…" And then it all came out. "…and when he was almost late for his train I hoped that he would be late, so that he could spend night at my house-" Before Fukutomi was even able to open his mouth, Arakita quickly added, "Not for sex! I just wanted to spend more time with him. And then he bought me these gloves and I was super fucking happy about it and I don't even know why. And then I asked him for a nice bicycle trip and we talked and it was super freaking amazing! And then… and then…" His voice that was suddenly very loud (when he started shouting he wasn't sure) was getting more calm and quiet.

Fukutomi, for the entire time, only stared at him. Arakita wasn't sure if he even blinked once. But after he stopped, he took the baton.

"And then…?"

Well, he could tell the whole story now.

"And then I might have kissed him…" He cringed and glanced at Fukutomi.

His response was fast.

"And what's so bad about that?"

"It wasn't bad. It wasn't. It's just… Onoda-chan acted normally about it and I don't know if it's good or bad…"

"Do you want him to act normally about it?"

Ah, he felt like he was being interrogated. But it actually worked, so he might as well just flow with it.

"No. I think I don't want him to…"

"So you want him to be happy about it?"

Arakita nodded.

"I guess…"

"So in other words, you want him to like you?"

Another slow nod.

"Yeah, you could say that…"

"Do you want to kiss him one more time or do other things, like hold hands with him?"

If Fukutomi asked him this only few weeks earlier he would have glared at him and then snort at that. But now he was a completely different person.

Does he want to kiss him one more time? Hell yeah… but that was a secret. Not anymore but still, this was something intimate he wanted to leave for himself. Or for Onoda.

And as for holding hands… It would definitely be nice. Especially as his hands were smaller than Arakita's own. They would probably fit so right, so special in Arakita's, like they were meant to be there from the beginning.

Huh boy, Arakita was getting cheesy with this.

But that was… fine, he guessed. He just wanted to spend time with him, hold hands, maybe cuddle (for the first time, the whole idea of cuddling and hugging wasn't as bad as he thought), talk and do all that shit that…

"Congratulations on your first crush."

And Arakita started coughing on his own saliva that went down the wrong tube in his throat. And hell, he was freaking one hundred percent sure that Fukutomi's lips twitched into miserable imitation of smirk. That sneaky bastard!

As he was trying to catch his rasping breath, everything suddenly clicked into the right place and so many things that until now were mysteries finally made sense!

But his heart was still beating too fast for comfort. Fuck his life.

But there was one thing that he really needed to do now.

"I need to ask him out…" he mumbled more to himself than to anyone else.

Fukutomi nodded.

"You should make this official."

Arakita blinked, not really understanding what his captain meant by that. His surprise was probably visible on his face, because he continued:

"Everyone on the team already thinks that you're together."

Arakita cursed aloud.

* * *

Easier said than done.

When he was writing the message his hand were trembling and he had problems with breathing. But somehow he finally clicked send (his finger slipped twice before he was able to press it).

And then came the longest three minutes of his entire life. He felt like he was sitting for hours, staring at the blank screen of his phone before it finally lit up, announcing a new message.

One deep breath and…

 _Do you want to meet and ride together?_

 _Yeah, sure. Just tell me when ^o^!_

Arakita clenched his fist and pumped it into the air.

* * *

This time Onoda rode to Hakone. Well, Arakita could've done it the other way one more time, but somehow they ended up planning their trip here.

Arakita was supposed to pick him up from the one road that was parallel to the highway, around noon. But he was already on his feet at five in the morning. Even his mother stared at him with big eyes and went to wake his father up because they should probably call the doctor. It took him an hour to assure them he was alright and only had problems with sleeping.

After that he spent a few hours in his room, surfing the net to calm his nerves. But heck… it didn't help as much as he hoped. He packed his things yesterday, cleaned his bike and was ready to go. If they were hungry, they could always eat somewhere in the city so that wasn't the problem (he packed a few energy bars though, just to be sure).

He left the house ten minutes earlier than he expected and rode his bike so furiously he ended up being at the planned place twenty minutes before the scheduled time. Arakita sat on the cold ground (the winter was just around the corner) and stared at the gray sky. He only hoped that it wouldn't rain today (although when he checked the weather report it was supposed to be okay). He didn't count how many times he checked his phone for the time or messages.

"Arakita-san!"

He jumped to his feet upon hearing that voice and his eyes frantically searched for it in his surroundings. He spotted Onoda cycling slowly on the road and waving at him with that giant smile plastered to his face.

Arakita clenched his fists and tried to calm his running heart. If it didn't, then he'd have a heart attack soon and to tell the truth, he wanted to live just a little bit longer.

"I'm sorry, did you wait long?" asked Onoda when he was a meter away. He put one foot on the ground to stop his bike and stabilize himself.

"No, I just got there…" Such a graceful lie. Great job, Arakita.

He checked his phone one more time to see that Onoda was also earlier than expected and this made him felt a little bit flustered, although his face didn't change. Or at least he hoped it didn't.

"That's great!" Onoda smiled at him and with one hand brushed away the fringe that got glued to his forehead. His cheeks were painted a nice pink and his arms were moving up and down rhythmically, but faster than expected. It also looked like he was pedaling faster than he was used to.

Which also made Arakita ridiculously happy.

Most of the time he didn't even notice such minor details, but with the Souhoku climber it was totally different matter. It was like he was drawn to them, to such small things like that twitch of lips, like the movement of his hands or that distant look.

"Shall we move?"

Arakita nodded and jumped on his bike. They both started riding next to each other. Just as they used to.

Arakita actually planned the whole trip. He sat staring at the map for a few hours before he finally drew a red line across few roads that in his opinion could get Onoda interested. Which of course ended up in many hills. But oh well, if Arakita would be able to see more of Onoda's delighted face, then he couldn't complain about it.

But… he wasn't really used to them, so when they reached their fourth hill he was gasping a bit too hard for comfort.

"We can take a break Arakita-san, i-if you want…" Came the soft voice from the front.

Arakita lifted his face to be met with the boy's concerned look that was mixed with something else. He waved his hand.

"At the top."

He didn't want to take the fun of climbing away from Onoda.

Not to mention, this way he was graced with the image of Onoda pedaling in front of him and he found himself liking it. There was something mesmerizing in the way he occasionally turned around his head to check if he was still there, the way he lifted up his cadence and the way he sang.

Arakita found himself noticing so many details it was scaring him.

But by the end of the hill he was panting so hard, even taking another breath was a problem for him.

"Oh, oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I raised the pace too much, did I? I-I'm really sorry Arakita-san!"

Even if he could speak, Arakita probably wouldn't be able to break through the boy's constant flow of apologies (for something that wasn't even his fault). So he just gave himself time to somehow calm his breath and beating heart.

He would die soon. Either because of the ride or because of Onoda. Well… it wasn't a bad death in his opinion, but better not tell anyone else.

After a few minutes he straightened his body and exhaled the hot air from his lungs. Onoda was still apologizing in front of him with a red face.

So he only patted his head. Or at least he tried. But the helmet was in the way, so he ended patting it and not the boy's real hair. He gave it a nice ruffle, making the boy's glasses fall a little bit down on his nose and his fringe stick in every direction.

"It wasn't your fault. I'm just not used to hills." After a thought he added, "But it was nice…"

And of course it happened again, as always. Onoda graced him with that smile that literally made his legs wobble. But now it was harder than ever, because his legs actually gave up beneath him. It was probably due to physical effort or Onoda casted some weird spell on him. Both options were possible in his opinion.

But he still landed on his butt with a loud curse coming from his lips.

"A-are you okay?"

"Yeah, only a little tired."

"We can stay here for awhile if you want?"

Arakita looked up. They still had some ways to go to be at the top and he didn't even know why, but he wanted to be there with the boy.

Onoda stared at him for few more seconds before nodding.

Before they jumped back on their bikes, Arakita took his water bottle and drank from it, throwing his head back.

The sky looked awfully gray now, to the point he was afraid it would rain at any moment. Well, the rain wasn't a problem on its own or for their riding, but still… he didn't want it to rain today.

It was supposed to be a special day after all.

Arakita clapped both of his cheeks, trying to clear his mind and put it on the right track before he mounted the bike.

The second half of the ride was calmer, although it was still tiresome. But this time Onoda drafted for him, which made it a little bit easier to climb.

The end of the hill was just in their line of sight when the weather crashed down and it started to pour heavily on them, soaking their clothes in a moment.

Onoda yelped and shivered on his bike.

"S-should we hide somewhere?!" he asked, turning around. The water started to form small streams on his cheeks and nose.

Arakita nodded and then remembered that Onoda didn't probably see him doing so, so he raised his voice a little.

"Yeah, there's a bus stop at the top. We can hide underneath it!"

He didn't remember when the last time he rode so hard was. Inter-High didn't count. The rain started to hack him on the back, making it hard to take another breath. There wasn't supposed to be such bad weather, but heck… he should've planned for it too.

The small bus stop booth was there, as he remembered it, with no one inside. But heck, who was out there in that weather anyway? There weren't any bus coming too, they only ran in the morning or late afternoon.

Even though the booth was small (it could only contain four or less people) it was dry and a little bit warmer than the whole of outside. Arakita found himself sighing in content when he finally hid under the low roof of the bus stop. He leaned both their bikes against one wall, which made the free space more cramped and well… smaller.

Arakita sat down on something that resembled a bench, but it wasn't anything like that. First of all, benches were bigger and more stable than that shit. It felt like it could break beneath them any second.

But when Onoda finally flopped down next to him (and also next to the wall) this matter wasn't as important as Arakita had thought a few seconds ago. The bench creaked under their weight but held strong.

"Such a heavy rain…" The boy murmured right next to his neck and Arakita jumped. Like literally, his legs twitched and his spine tensed for a brief second.

Arakita knew that the bus stop was small. Not many people used bus to get there and not many people stayed for long, so there wasn't a need for that place to be big. But the case was… with two bikes leaning on the wall and two people on the small bench (that was maybe made for one person) it was starting to get tight.

He tried to correct his position and ended in brushing his knee against the boy's leg.

Well it wasn't so bad to be near Onoda. Actually, Arakita enjoyed it. The overwhelming uncertainty was what was bugging him. Other than that it was okay… Or maybe even better.

"I'm sorry…" he found himself speaking with the still hoarse voice due to the exertion they had just few minutes ago. "This was supposed to be a nice trip but…"

It all fucked up.

For a few seconds Arakita only listened to the loud sound of rain hitting the metal roof above their heads in a quick symphony. The booth was made so that people waiting for the bus could look at the view of the city beneath them, but due to the rain the whole place was fogged, making it impossible to see anything.

Then he felt a shiver running through his body as he felt something warm on his hand. His eyes wandered down to spot a small, pale palm resting on the back of his own. Small water droplets were still visible on it.

Slowly he lifted his face and looked at Onoda. He was staring at him with weird feelings mixed on his face. Some of it was definitely shyness or embarrassment or maybe both. There was a lot of fear and maybe uncertainty, but most of all it was just plain happiness.

The same happiness that pulled him to the boy. Just like that.

"I don't think… that it's a bad trip…" he slowly said, like he was weighting all the words before they left his lips.

There were so many things that just gathered on the end of Arakita's tongue he wanted to let out, but none of them actually made it through the finish line. He only hoped that this distress wasn't very visible on his face. But heck… he was a simple man, so he probably had his emotions written all over his face.

Until now he thought that the heavy beating of his heart was due to the ride they just did, but now, even after he calmed down it didn't slow down. If this will took any longer he might actually die.

"I-I'm just happy that I could spend some time with Arakita-san… that's all…"

And the only thing that was left in his mind, after suddenly everything blew up, was one simple… fuck.

Arakita never really believed all those romantic movies or occasional books he read. For him it was bunch of shit when the time was supposed to stop, when everything else ceased to matter, when you felt that you could faint just from hearing a few words. Well… Here he was now with trembling hands and a lost breath and his mind going bananas and a typhoon in his stomach and his hot cheeks and just fucking everything that was wrong with his body now!

And the only thing his body allowed him to do was murmur a simple:

"Fuck…"

Because he was a simple man with an even simpler mind.

Maybe that wasn't the best movement in this game, because Onoda looked at him with a horrified look and quickly put both his hands on his mouth, like he only understood what he said just then.

"I-I'm so sorry… I didn't mean to… I mean that…. That must have sounded weird…" Onoda took a deep breath and then turned a little bit before clenching his tiny hand on his pants. His glassed moved down and now were on the edge of the boy's nose. He sniffed. "Forget whatever… you just heard…"

What the fuck he was talking about?

His mind was slowly returning to its right tracks and finally he was able to process whatever he heard. It wasn't too hard, even for him.

"Fuck… Onoda-chan it wasn't what you thought…" he murmured, looking away from his depressed expression. Even the invisible view was better than anything.

"I-it wasn't…?"

Arakita nodded. Here goes nothing.

He took a deep breath, cleared his throat and…

Nothing happened. His mind broke. It felt like a vinyl disc without the needle. It was still moving, but something was missing.

Because first… how people do it? How do you say to someone you liked them? Especially when you're not sure? He wanted to say it, because heck, he hated to hold things inside. But a part of his brain that he didn't know existed was telling him that maybe he shouldn't do it. Because what if… what if… what if…

He turned around and stared at Onoda's eyes that were now bigger than ever and shining with something, something that pulled the string right inside his chest. Expectation.

"S-so why?"

And because he didn't have better idea he just did whatever was on his mind lately a lot.

He leaned over the small round face and put his hand on the wall behind the boy, trapping him inside. Well, it was more like he did it for himself, because his hands were shaking like hell and he didn't want him to see it.

Onoda stared at him for few more seconds and opened his mouth a little (maybe he wanted to ask something or maybe he just wanted to take one last proper breath) and Arakita's heart suddenly stopped.

Then he kissed him one more time.

Well, it was more like he only put his lips on Onoda's but hell, that count as a kiss, right? It wasn't like he didn't want more. Only when he actually did it he felt something raging inside of him, rising, screaming to be let out.

His chest had never felt so hot before.

They sat in that awkward position maybe for a minute or maybe for hours, Arakita wasn't so sure about his whole concept of time anymore. But he knew he had to do something, so his free hand travelled to the boy's cheek.

It was very warm and soft, under his harsh, long fingers. To tell the truth, it wasn't like anything he'd ever touched in his entire life. It was something new that couldn't be compared with anything else.

The rain still fell around them, hitting the metal roof in a loud symphony, accompanied by the rustle of leaves and a tune of wind whistling in the background.

And then he felt as though something was slowly making its way up his back until it rested on the nape of his neck.

And Onoda tilted his head a little bit, making it way easier to bring himself closer.

He had no fucking idea what he was doing, really. The only thing that was left in his brain was that he wanted to enjoy that moment to the fullest.

Arakita licked the boy's lips and Onoda gasped in a soft way, muffled a little by the closeness of Arakita's face and all.

If someone had told him a year or so ago that he would be kissing someone at the bus stop on the top of the mountain he would probably shrug. And if they said that the person would be Onoda he would've been mightily concerned. But if they had added that it would be a full-on kiss he would have definitely laughed at them. These sorts of things needed preparations, in Arakita's mind.

And yet he was there, at the bus stop in the middle of the rain, kissing a boy.

Taking the given opportunity (that was probably dumb luck), he slowly slipped his tongue inside and brushed it against the boy's small teeth, and only after that did he move it deeper (Okay, I'm in… Mayday, mayday, please send help!).

Even though all of his mixed emotion spun inside of him, he felt like the happiest person on this side of the globe.

Arakita tried to move but there wasn't much room between them, especially at their mouths, which were glued together, still in the forward-partly turned around position.

His tongue travelled around Onoda's mouth, testing, cataloguing every taste, every scent his nose smelt, every movement of the boy's body, until it met with Onoda's tongue.

He still didn't respond to the kiss. So that was probably a bad sign.

And something inside of him shattered after this thought flew through his brain. Maybe… maybe Onoda didn't have the same feelings. Maybe… maybe he should stop.

And he tried to move away. He really did. And he would have actually succeeded in his plan if the hand on his back hadn't suddenly found its way into his hair.

But it did. And the kiss became more meaningful than ever.

Arakita's mind was a mess, like someone put colorful explosives inside and detonated them all in one moment, when Onoda's tongue swirled with Arakita own in a messy dance.

It was hot, exciting and just… fucking good.

But well, being out of breath was probably not the best thing to do, so he slowly moved away. Just an inch.

Onoda gasped loudly and opened his eyes. There were so big, so mesmerizing, so soft that Arakita almost couldn't take it.

He put his forehead on the boy's arm and for awhile listened to his own rapid heartbeat and to Onoda's breath, slowly, but surely calming down. Just sitting like that was so reassuring, so calming that he didn't mind staying like that for the rest of eternity (or at least for the rest of his life).

"Onoda-chan?"

Wow, his voice sounded so weird and raspy, but heck… he didn't care right now. Onoda didn't answer, but his arms suddenly froze and his breath hitched. Arakita glanced up, just in time to see the boy open his mouth.

"Ono-?"

"I like you Arakita-san, please go out with me!"

Wow, wow, wow!

Arakita opened his mouth and closed and opened and closed and still no words came out. Because there were so many things that was waiting to be told like… fuck yeah or sure or yes and just everything that was a sentence or word of affirmation.

But nothing left his mouth and he really wanted to slap his brain for acting like a bitch right now.

"I-I mean you probably don't like me in that way. A-and maybe you don't even like boys or something like that… But I just wanted to say… ask this… so, you don't have to answer now and…"

Arakita wanted to stop this sudden waterfall of a weird, not glued together sentence but the only thing his body allowed him to do was say:

"Shiiiiiiit!"

Great, great, he was just a master at this. Please give him a medal for that. Gold medal! Why did his brain hate him so much right now? He was sure he just burned some cables and connectors inside his head, because this was ridiculous.

And Onoda jumped, twitched and shivered all in the same time, making Arakita's head fall down and hit the wall, which ended of course in another curse:

"Fuuuuck!"

And another flow of Onoda's apologies.

"Oh my gosh, Arakita-san! I'm so so… so sorry! Did it hurt? Of course it did, sorry for asking an obvious question…"

It took Arakita's eyes a minute or two to clear up all the black spots and stabilize his vision so he could finally see properly.

Onoda was clutching his shorts and staring at his knees, his body tensed, probably still waiting for him to say something otherthan a swear.

Okay, you got it Yasutomo, you can do it. You want it and you can do it… Say something clever for a change.

So he opened his mouth.

"I'm really sorry, I hope it won't become too awkward between us!"

He had had enough of this.

Arakita grabbed Onoda's arms and shook him, not as violently as he would with other people, but still trying to pull out of his apologetical trance. When he felt it was enough, he stopped and waited until the dizzy eyes of Onoda return to normal.

"Why did you do that… Arakita-san…?"

Okay, one last chance. You can do it.

Arakita took a deep breath and tried to calm his wrecked nerves and heart that wanted to jump out of his chest.

"It won't become too awkward because… because…" Just say it. You like him right? Right! So there was nothing you should be afraid of. Especially now. It was the perfect time, opportunity, the perfect moment and all that shit.

"Because I like-like you too…"

There it is…

Arakita breathed heavily, letting all his nerves and stress go, making it all fly away with his voice, with his breath.

He felt –

Complete.

Onoda blinked few times, rapidly, like his brain was registering what he just heard and putting it in the right shelf. And then he smiled, just like he used to. Smiled that kind of smile that took Arakita's heart away.

He just fell in love.

Just like that.

* * *

"Ew, dude, you look terrifying with that smile… stop it!"

Arakita lifted his face from the phone and directed it at Toudou and Shinkai who were leaning above him, both with scared looks painted on their faces.

"Eh, don't be mean, Jinpachi, he looks so happy right now, let him be!"

"No, because he's scaring first-years, walking around like that."

Ah he had had enough of this, like really. It wasn't his fault that he was happy. Onoda just wished him good luck on today's training and that was all Arakita needed to feel pumped up.

Still hearing bickering. he stood up and walked to the exit. Only to be blocked by their captain. Who was also staring at him intently.

He raised an eyebrow.

"What do you want, Fuku-chan?"

"Did you make it?"

It took him a few moments to understand what his captain meant. And yeah, well, it was Fukutomi who recommended him to confess so heck, he shouldn't hide the facts.

"Yeah I did…"

Fukutomi nodded, content with that answer, and walked past him. Right to where Toudou and Shinkai was still arguing over something. And he just showed Toudou his hand.

"I won…"

The climber stopped yelling and then stared at the hand in front of his eyes and then back at Arakita, who still stood in the doorway. What was happening…

"You weren't together earlier!?" he screamed at top of his lungs and pointed a denunciatory finger towards him, like he wanted to drill it right inside his chest. Huh, such fury in those eyes.

Arakita blinked, still confused.

"Well no, not 'til this past weekend…"

Toudou stared and stared and stared at him and then shouted at top of his lungs "Shiiiit!" and grabbed his bag. He took few bills from the wallet and gave it to Fukutomi.

"Thank you."

Later that day Arakita caught up to Fukutomi on the climb and asked him what all the fuss was about.

"I made a bet with Toudou on your relationship. He was insisting that you were already together and I said you were not."

Arakita wasn't particularly mad at that. Maybe slightly amused. (Heck, he would be the first to bet that that weird Spider Mama and Toudou were together right now).

"So how did you know I wasn't with him?"

That was what caught his attention more than anything.

"I knew you would need a push in that matter."

Arakita hummed aloud.

"So that's why you talked to me back then?"

Fukutomi nodded.

"Yeah that too… but…"

"But what?"

"I also needed the money…"

"Huh?"

THE END

* * *

Yahooo everyone! Finally finished this one-shot. I really like it :D. But all my one-shots end in main character being dorky xDD Haha xD.

But anyway thank you all for reading it :3 Hope you enjoyed it and it lighten your mood a little bit :3.

And especially great thanks to NomSujet for her amazing work at checking it and her warm words and just for doing it. Thank youuuu :3!

And I kind of wanted to answer one review from my other AraSaka story - Dracery I hope this one-shot qualifies as whole story :3.

Thank youuu one more time!


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